Modern Masters: Spiritual Maturity: From transcendence to imminence | Rabbi Sam Shor | October 30th

Everybody so first of all typically on Thursday mornings we start with backto-back para sharim given by Rabbi Ari Khan and Rabbi Barakab and then I teach later in the day a class called modern masters which was really a class in Jewish thought [clears throat] but today um unfortunately Rabbi Khan is sitting shiva for his mother Allah shalom and Rabbi Tab unfortunately due to the traffic constraints of the of the day without getting into the politics of the day he's not able to come in from Natana. So I moved into Rabbi Tab's slat instead of teaching later in the morning and we're going to try to do a combino a combination of both para sha vua as well as modern masses. In other words, we're going to start in the para but the our approach to the questions we're going to raise about the para are going to be addressed less by classical mafarim and although we will start with rashi is of course a classical mafares but we're going to move to the masters of Jewish thought. Okay. So we're going to start let's just dive right in with the beginning of our this week. We all we all know these text number one says to go you shall go yourself from your land from the place of your birth from your parents' home to the land that I will show you. I'll make you there a great nation and you will be blessed. Your name will become enlarged or greater and it will be a blessing for you and everyone anyone who blesses you shall be blessed. Those who curse you will be cursed. And through you all of humanity, all the families of of of humanity will be blessed. And went as Hashem and instructed him and his nephew Lot went together with him. And Ara was 75 years old when he went forth for from Karan to the land that would become the land of Israel. >> You want question at the end? >> At the end. At the end, please. Okay. ate and a took his wife Sah with him that and his nephew Lot they called and they all the wealth they had acquired and the soul which they the soul literally means souls really that they created we're going to talk about what that means in a momentan and they went forth to towards the land of Cananan and they came into the land of so let's just begin with the first the famous question that Rashi asks why don't just say go for you to you okay what does it mean that Hashem promises that he will make his name great what does the verse and the soul you made in mean and then Rashi gives us some insight into each of these questions we're going to three rashies together, three famous rashies together which are going to set the tone for as the jumping off point from listening uh from hearing from the masses of Jewish thought to address all these questions and it's going to be a tapestry that we're going to try to weave together and hopefully answer all these questions. Okay, so let's jump right in. Text number two, the famous rashis on this para. Hashem says, "You shall go, you shall go to you for you." So what does that mean? Rashi explains for your benefit and for your good there you'll become a great nation here out in you will not merit to have children and more than this it's there in the land of Israel that your nature your mission will be revealed to the entire world will become evident to the entire world and then Rashi continues on the pik What does it mean when Hashem says your name will become great? It's an illusion of fact that what that Hashem is eventually going to add a letter to Ara's name. He's going to go from being to Abraham to up till this point his name was Abraham and from here on out he'll be called Abraham the Abraham Omah which is 248. Abraham corresponds to the the numerical value of the letters in the name Abraham corresponds to 248 which corresponds to what? It equals all the parts of a human being. So he begins his life as Ara. He begins his journey as Ara and then he becomes Abraham. And the name Abraham represents this process of his name being becoming great [cough] says Rashi. And the num numerical value of the new name Abraham corresponds to 248 which [cough and clears throat] corresponds to the numbers the number of parts in the human body. Okay, that's rashi. And then the last question, what does it mean the soul that you made in the souls that he brought to what? To a relationship with Hashem. Abraham brought the men closer and S brought the women closer and therefore the verse suggests it's as if they created new souls. Okay? Because we know that later on when a gadic becomes a member of the Jewish people they it's considered like they're reborn. Okay? If a sedic becomes a member of the Jewish people, his previous biological siblings are no longer considered his siblings. Okay? So therefore, it's as if they're reborn. Those souls have been recreated. So those souls that a mirror to come closer to Hashem to have a relation with Hashem, it's as if they those souls were reborn. Okay, that's Rashi. All right. So what I want to focus on and we're it's going to touch on all these questions but I really want to focus on this idea of that your name shall become great. What does it mean that somehow by adding the letter hey to the word Ara okay and his name becoming Abraham that his name has now become great. How do we understand the significance of this insight of rashi that Abraham corresponds to 248 which corresponds to all the parts of a human being? Okay, everyone with me so far? We're going to come back to all these questions. We're going to start first. The first master we're going to hear from today is Rabbi Schlama coin of Radamsk. Okay. of the Rebi of Red Vadamsk who lived at the end of the 19th century into the early early 20th century and this is text number three on our sheets and he's going to talk about the famous comment of Rashi that means you shall go for your own benefit and for your own good and these are the words of the Reb of Redsk it's possible to explain this idea as follows and And now he's going to ask a question. What h did need we know was very successful. He had a lot of already acquired a lot of accumulated a lot of wealth. He was very accomplished. So what does it mean that by going to the land of Israel it'll be for his own benefit? What further did need a in terms of physically? Okay. Okay, in terms of you know wealth there was nothing he was lacking. But what we learn from this is the charact the the prime character trait of a blessed memory. What was Aram's mission in life? To do a lot of to fill the world with kindness. Okay. to fill the world with lots of kindness. And for a mavenu whose nia was to be kind, who was his nature was to be a kind giving person. So for a mavenu this was what? A source of tremendous hah a fulfillment of benefit. The fact that he would be able to do more and reach more people. This was something that would be tremendously fulfilling for and meaningful to [cough] that through coming to the land of Israel his kindness would continue to spread throughout the world that's true. Okay. That's why the Pik says you shall go from your land to the land of your birth from your father's house. Why? in order that you should have impact on the entire world. And that's what it means for your benefit and for your good. And every single human being in's eyes was considered what? As if they were part of his family. When he comes to Eric Israel, all of a sudden he's on the world stage. Now, let's think about this, okay? This little tiny strip of land to this very day continues to make headlines every single moment. Okay. The Jewish people with all we've accomplished throughout history, all the all the centuries that we were in Bav and there was greatmies, but when when the Jewish [clears throat] people came home to Eric Israel, we're a leader in the world in technology. We're a leader in the world in physics. We're a leader in the world in biotechnology. We're leaving the world and milit and and militarily, okay, the entire eyes of the world are on this tiny little nation in this tiny little strip of land. And that's exactly what the tarif of says is the message that Hashem is g to you'll be you could be mar one or two three people. You'll have impact on a few people locally where you are, but if until you come to you're not going to really reach your full potential. And what a mus that is for us today the we as the descendants of au okay where are we meant to where is it that we're meant to be to reach our full potential to have the greatest impossible impact we can not only on one another but on the entire world >> here >> here and it's very clear all right so that's a beautiful teaching for the rebonsk now we're going to go back a few centuries to less than a less modern master but it's a very important text to learn together and this is the ram in in the Mishna Torah. Now the Rambam of course wrote many many great works. He wrote a commentary on the Mishnayote the parish of Mishnay it's called. He wrote the Maravim his his great work of of theology and philosophy called the the the guide to the perplexed. He wrote a mitzvot which is an elucidation of the tarag 613 mitz in the Torah. And then his most famous work is the Mishna Torah. What he called his strong hand. Why do he call the because there are 14 it's made up of 14 volumes. The 14 sections of the Mishra this the this is why he called this work his his strong hand. [laughter] It's very interesting. He wrote the Rabam wrote the Mishra as a layman's codeex to daily Jewish conduct. Okay. Not not which is by the way very telling in terms of you read Sadoros how far our generations have have kind of stumbled because in the 900 years as the Ram wrote the Mishna Torra okay today in order to become a rabbi today you have to master large large sections of the Mishna Torrah but the Ram really wrote this as what a layman's codeex to daily Jewish conduct and the first opening segment okay of the Mishna the the Mishara begins with a hakos of the fundamentals of Torah and belief as if to suggest that what the prerequisite the precursor to talking about um daily Jewish conduct and practical Jewish life is what the spiritual underpinnings and fundamentals we can't get in the Ram starts his monumental work about you know the daily ins and outs of Jewish life with the laws of Torah as if to suggest what that we cannot not begin to talk about the mechanics of how we live our lives as Jews without what talking about the philosophy behind it and the purpose behind it. So this is what the Ram writes in perf in the third the very beginning of of of of inra. He says the following. And was 40 years old when he recognized his creator. And he began to what? Answer the questions that were given to him by the people of Orim and to try to teach them and bring them to the appropriate path. the lamar. Okay. And teach them and told them what this is not the true way that you're following. This is not the correct path that you're following. Okay. And he began to break their idols. So according to Rama, he was not three years old. That's why with the med famous medish about Ravino being three years old and wandering into his father's idol worship and smashing the idols. According to Ram, that wasn't when he was three. was when he was 40 years old, which maybe makes a little bit more sense. Okay. Although it's not so farfetch farfetched that a young child would walk into his parents' workshop and and accidentally destroy things, but okay. Fine. >> Was three years old when she got married. >> Well, that's awesome. We we we know that we don't take we don't take the the midrashim of tar necessarily literally that we're meant to glean some kind of message from those midrashim. But the Ram here codifies and says the that that was actually 40 years old when he broke started breaking idols. And he says at that point, it's when he told not only did he break the idols down, it's at that point that he begins to teach the entire world that there's one God and it's him that we're meant to to to bow down before and off offer sacrifices to and to and be and to teach that awareness to everyone he came in contact with. Okay. >> [cough and clears throat] >> the royal and it was appropriate to destroy all of the images that they had built in order to teach them what that if you don't do this you might continue to be engaged in a zara. Okay. When he became was successful in convincing others to do just that, to destroy their idols, the king got angry with them and decided that he wanted to have killed. And a miracle happened and he went forth and went to and he began to stand up and call out with a great voice for the entire world to hear and to announce that there's only one God for the entire universe and only he is it appropriate for us to serve. and he continues to do this until he finally made his way home to the land of Cananan and from there it spread like wildfire becomes who he's meant to be as we said earlier as we learned earlier from the rebi of Verdumpsk. Okay. You want a source sheet and >> Sure. >> Okay. So the Rama tells us gives us basically a biographical trajectory of what [clears throat] what happens in those those we have four that tell us go forth come to Israel and there there you'll become who you're meant to be. So the Ram kind of codifies in these few this paragraph okay that the biography what happened the trajectory of Afra actually coming to that awareness okay so now we're going to learn a very very powerful piece and a very interesting piece from the kajnab is of kajnit a great master who came on aliyah to Israel in the early 1930s He's actually buried in the Sanhedria cemetery here in Ushalim. He died in uh and bet el 1966 he passed away and he was the brother-in-law of a very famous another very famous personality we've learned we actually learned about last week we actually learned from the in last week's class as well the p the rebi petta the rebi the wars ghetto this is the the rebi of the wars ghetto's brother-in-law and in this piece he's going to describe what does it mean it's a jumping off point from one of the rashis we learned in the beginning of the ask what does it mean that Hashem says to Abraham that coming to Israel what will happen your name will become great and Rashi tells us that that's an illusion arm is that what that Hashem is going to add an extra letter to his name and he's his name is going to be changed from Ara to Abraham and that in so doing his the gamatria the numerical value of his new name corresponds to the number 248 which Rashi says corresponds to the parts in a complete human being. Okay. So without our introduction, let's dive right in and let's learn what the has to say about this rashi. Now let's add to this. He says the the words of Rashi on on on our verse that his your name will become great. This is what Rashi said. Now he says we have to understand what was Hashem's and adding that extra letter to his name and changing his name from Ara to Abraham. What is it that Hashem had in mind and adding that extra letter to his name where his name that the puss says your name will become great? What does it mean? What is adding that extra letter which changes the gamatria the numerical value of his name to 248 which equals the parts of a of a entire human being. What was being alluded to here says the rebi. So listen to his incredible words. Okay. are Ramar Gavado. He said we have to understand okay and we have to we we know we have to understand further the difference between the the the accolade ram which means lofty right we call hashem existing bamut transcendent and beyond our reality that hashem exists bamut up in the heavens above us beyond us transcendent from us okay we have to understand these two concepts and the other concept is the idea of godlashem Okay, that Hashem's great. There's Ramoot Hashem. There's this idea of Hashem's loftiness and Hashem's greatness, God. So, what's the difference? Because the the term large or great it suggests what that it has something we can relate to. Okay. He's going to explain something can only become great called great or large, right? When it's in comparison to something that is less than that. Okay, this cup of water is is taller than this than this little box of sucking candies, right? Everyone understands the see see the the sophisticated show and tell I have here, right? Okay. So, so what the Rebi is saying here is that the something can only be called Hashem can only be called great. Okay, when we talk about Godem means that Hashem is great because we we have the capacity because he's imminently present amongst us to feel his presence and his greatness. We can't see him, right? So, what does it mean that he's great? Because something is only great in capac comparison to something that what is lesser than it. Okay. But what so what's the difference between loftiness and godless? Okay. Because when we talk about Hashem being lofty and transcendent, it means that Hashem, yes, we recognize there's this powerful force up there somewhere, but it's beyond us. It's beyond our human comprehension. But when we talk about godly, we talk about what? Hashem's imminent presence. the capacity for us to feel Hashem imminently in our lives. It's actually a great paradox, right? On one hand, we know that there's this concept of Roman with Hashem, that Hashem is beyond our human comprehension. And simultaneously, we believe there's this idea of godless Hashem, that Hashem is imminently present in within everything in existence. So, the Reb is going to explain this a little further, okay? And what this has to do with Shalom. Shimo Arau in the beginning of his life is called Aram. He was what? Aram the father of Ram. A lashad begins his career teaching about spirituality and godliness and a relationship with Hashem by saying what? Teaching the he was the av. He begins his career saying what? that there's a God up there beyond us, transcended beyond us. And that's how he begins teaching people about Hashem. At that point, he understood that what Hashem can be described as Rah as lofty beyond us. But later on as he evolved, as he matured, okay, when he began to del think further and really delve into this idea, it became clear to him what that Hashem is imminently involved in the world. Okay, there's divine supervision. Hashem is imminently involved in our reality that as teaches us that he saw a candle burning and he realized realized that the candle didn't burn on its own. Okay? And through that he came to realize that Hashem has complete supervision over everything in existence. Okay? Abraham and it's at that point that his name is changed from Ara the one who taught the world about this idea that there's a that God is transcendent and beyond our our comprehension to Abraham. Now what what what is the significance? Listen to what he how he explains this. And therefore there's a a measure for measure taking place here. Because Abraham evolved to understand that Hashem is not just this lofty being that's beyond us, but rather that Hashem is an imminently present in everything that goes on around us and existence because he comes to that realization. He evolves. He matures a more sophisticated understanding of our relationship with the Hashem says therefore your name merits to become great. Okay. So what does that mean? Since he comes to recognize and realize that Hashem is indeed surrounding and supervising and orchestrating everything that exists in nature, he merits to have said about him meaning Abraham and you shall be blessed explained in this through becomes a source of blessing to the world and everything he blesses what will be blessed. Okay. So now let's continue and this level of spiritual understanding of spiritual maturity a spiritual clarity. This is considered being a complete human being. Okay. There's the being a complete human being like meaning we have all the parts of our body and there's being a complete human being meaning what spiritually we are more mature and we have a more complete sophisticated understanding of our relationship with Hashem and that's what's happened to Avram has evolved from being the teacher of this idea that there's simply a god up there somewhere to teaching this idea of the god that is imminently present in our lives and therefore he evolves to a more become a more complete spiritual sophisticated being and therefore says now I'm going to make your name change your name which is going to correspond to this idea the number 248 right which means what you've now become a complete human being okay because he comes to recognize and realize that nothing could exist in in creation without Hashem's supervision and intervention. Rome Hashem Abraham and this is what is alluded to with the name Abraham Shahri Adam that because he comes to this level of spiritual understanding Abraham has now evolved to be a complete and whole human being. So says the kajbi this is not only they're building up the ra the rama gives us like the biographical how this evolved but the ra what does the kajbi give us the significance of this okay the significance that he begins his career teaching about this idea of raashem and then he evolves to a much more spirit spiritually sophisticated understanding of the paradox that hashem is at one time both beyond us as well is imminently present in our lives. So we're going to we're going to elaborate and clarify this idea a little bit further. We're going to learn a short piece from Rabbi Schlama Ainita is one of the great teachers in the religious Zionist world today. He's the rashiva of Konim in theat in the old city. He's also the chief rabbi ammeritus of the Yeshua Betel. Um he's a phenomenal writer. He's written hundreds and hundreds of works both works as well as works. He's also a master in the Torah of Ravk Zatal. And in this little paragraph um Rav Aier is going to bring together several ideas that are rooted in numerous teachings from RVuk specifically in about four different articles in Oro Kesh four different um um entries in Oro Kesh one of Rufk's more mystical works. So this is text number six on our sheet and this is this is basically paraphrasing. So okay general simple monotheism suggests that what that the world is removed from God general regular monotheism says there's a god that's up there. We believe there's a power up there. But the God but God created the world and he sits on the side and he doesn't mix in. That's general monotheism. But what do we as Jews believe? We believe Hashem existed before there was a world. Okay. And he's beyond the world. He Okay. Hem created the world that he rules upon. And he was he ruled before anything else was created. He was the one and only God before anything else was created. After everything will cease in existence. Okay? He'll continue to be the awesome ruler. Hashem was the creator and the master before the world was created and it will continue even it continues even after the world was created. So now he explains this and uses the language that we mentioned earlier. G transcendenti the gam iminenti he is both god is both hashem is both transcendent meaning beyond us we can't really grasp the awesomeness of hashem but he's also imminently amongst us imminently presence in our lives we wouldn't be able to exist nothing would exist without hashem's imminence okay there's a spark of divinity that exists in everything that that exists in the It's Hashem gives life to everything in existence and he sustains everything that exists and that's quoting the great of where was the okay when Hashem created the world when Hashem created the world he placed it in a little corner uh within the great all-encompassing divinity so to speak. And now RV cook coins a terminology that uh that I think is unique that Raf Cook is the first one to co coin it. He says low pantheism. This is not pan pantheism meaning that everything is god panentheism. This is the this is the comment the the concept that cook coins. What is panentheism? Everything exists within the divine. When we say that is the source of the entire world geography doesn't mean that geographically that everything emanates from one point called God but rather from the spiritual perspective. Hashem is the source of the entire universe. He is the sustainer of the entire universe. And he's the one who gives life to the entire universe. The light of God exists within everything. With everything that exists in the universe, there's a spark of divinity. So Rav Ainer based on many beautiful and very poetic essays from Ravk gives us this language of pentheism that that Judaism and amuna the way we relate to Hashem is a great paradox. I want to end Hashem is imminently present in all of existence. On the other hand, Hashem is beyond our human comprehension. We're not simple monotheists and we're not pantheists that everything is God. We are panentheus. Everything exists within God. We call kazal calls the bak. Everything exists within hashem's all-encompassing everything. Everything comes mik. Everything comes from god. Hashem is coal. Everything exists within divinity. Okay. So that's all beautiful. And that's Arainu's kind of trajectory and mission to teach the world about this concept. And we're the Ben Ara. So the question is so how do we live up to Aram's legacy? How do we take Aram's message of sharing with the world this more sophisticated understanding and capacity to relate that as well being transcendent as well as imminently present in our lives? How do we do that? How do we accomplish as the descendants of a to emulate to walk in his ways? Okay. So there's a beautiful we all know that there's a mitzvah of to love your fellow as you love yourself. The asks a very simple question. He says, "Well, does the Torah tell us and define for us what it means to fulfill the mitzvah of loving ourselves?" I'm asking to throw that out to you. Where in the Torah does the Torah give us a definition of what it means to love ourselves as individuals? Does the Torah do that? [snorts] The answer is no. There's no definition. Okay? So if that's true, if the mitzvah of loving your fellow is to love your fellow asam as you love yourself and the Torah doesn't define what it means to fulfill a mitzvah of loving ourselves. How do we know if we ever live up to the mandate to what? To love our neighbor. You follow the question? It's a very fundamental question. So the which is this last source on yes, he basically deals with this question. This text number seven Okay. So what it it conotes being active something to do something active. How do we demonstrate our love for Hashem? Listen to what he says. How does it how do we know that we fulfill the midst of loving our fellow like ourselves? The perish has to be So listen this a beautiful beautiful idea says this we have to read that differently okay we have to read that there's a mitz there is a mitzvah of love what's that mitzvah so we have to read that va the mitzvah of loving god should be to your neighbor as it is kam okay as it is for you. So how do we achieve that? Okay. Seeing the man that is what it's to encourage others. What does it mean to love your neighbor says? To encourage others to love Hashem in the same way we love Hashem. So how do you do that? So he says as follows just as a person has to work with all his heart to to express and his love for God with his own heart with his own within his own heart has to work in their ownem. So too we have to what? Try to introduce the love of God into the hearts of our friends. And this is why taught us that this concept of is the essential message of Torah. It's the entire me mission of not by getting on a soap box and preaching to others. Okay. and talking down to others but rather by being a and this is a very perhaps a very important message for today haven I'm not going to get into say anything further beyond that but rather than getting on a soap box and telling other putting others down okay how do we demonstrate how if we really love how do we demonstrate how do we bring others to have the same appreciation and level of love for hashem that we have by being a shining example of what it means to live a life of a hashem and a hashem. Okay. And when we live a life of aemas that's personified by refined midot by concern for one another. Okay. Then others will come to see the beauty in that way of life and come to emulate emulate that way of life on their own. They'll fall in love with Torah and Hashem on their own. And that was the great kak of Ara. Arau wasn't didn't didn't preach. He just demonstrated through his kindness, the many acts of kindness, as we said, he's the ultimate is he through his many acts of kindness, people came to see this is what it means to live a life of aem. So I just want to close with one last piece to bring this all together from the the very next okay it says that through you all the families of humanity will become blessed and listen and this really brings everything we talked about together so far this morning together in one final makabes one final hammer blow and listen to RV cook's when the recognition of the unique character uh holiness that's particular to the Jewish people our unique role when we recognize what we're meant to do in this world when we talk and when we come to that level of clarity just like a evolved and became Abraham when we come to that level of clarity When we have that aha moment, what happens? Okay. Then what happens when we mature spiritually to the level of a mavenu then the affinity and love and the capacity to see the good in every single person every single human being okay together that's what it means to emulate Abraham's Abraham's ways and that's what it means that through Abraham and through his descendants the all the families of the world would become blessed to au this is the true character trait the the defining trait of auim the father of many nations that all the families of the world will come to be blessed through. So therefore I just want to just end with a braha for all of us that we should not only be z blessed to see the good within one another always. We should be blessed to see the god within one another always the spark of divinity that's imminently present amongst us. And in so doing, we should be able to be za to bring others to have that same level of of recognition of Hashem's imminence within every moment of our lives in the same way that a mavenu was z to do. So have a great week. Shabbat shalom.